Christian left

The Christian left is a spectrum of left-wing Christian political and social movements that supports peace, charity, interfaith dialogue, and compassion. The Christian left originated in the 19th century, when early socialist thinkers such as Robert Owen and Henri de Saint-Simon infused socialism with Christian doctrine. Genuine Christianity has a left-wing perspective due to its beliefs in pacifism, social justice, racial equality, human rights, and the rejection of excessive wealth. The Christian left supports social liberalism as well, believing in interfaith dialogue rather than decrying other faiths as heresy. Christian leftists also view homosexuality in various ways, either arguing that it is immoral but unimportannt to social justice, that heterosexual sex is just as immoral, or that biblical proscriptions of homosexuality are actually attacking pederasty (old men having relations with young boys). The left does have some right-wing views, such as opposition to euthanasia or abortion, but this fits in with its ideology of the "consistent life ethic", which also marks its opposition to capital punishment, militarism, and the unequal distribution of wealth. Pope Francis, Kevin Rudd, Rafael Correa, Mauricio Funes, Jacques Roux, Nikolaus Gross, Johannes Rau, Hans and Sophie Scholl, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Abe Isoo, Daniel Ortega, Leo Tolstoy, Vyacheslav Molotov, Desmond Tutu, Ralph Abernathy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Fred Shuttlesworth, William Jennings Bryan, Jimmy Carter, Eugene V. Debs, Hubert Humphrey, Jesse Jackson, Dennis Kucinich, Eugene McCarthy, John Lewis, Walter Mondale, Cesar Chavez, Helen Keller, Johnny Cash, Keir Hardie, Tim Farron, Hugo Chavez, and Leopoldo Lopez are famous Christian leftists.